RCB IPL 2026 Schedule: Defending Champions kick off title defence vs SRH on March 28, fixtures, venues & match details

Royal Challengers Bengaluru begin their IPL 2026 title defence against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Check the full RCB schedule, squad and key matches for the new season.

The IPL 2026 season is fast approaching, and excitement is building for the tournament’s 19th edition. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the reigning champions, will kick off the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the opening match.

RCB secured their first IPL title in 2025, ending an 18 year wait, after defeating Punjab Kings in the final. Virat Kohli was instrumental in that title run, scoring more than 650 runs during the season. Now, the team aims to defend their crown and make it back-to-back glory.

The BCCI has released the schedule for the first 20 days of the tournament.

RCB’s opening fixtures

RCB’s first match is against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru (evening game, 7:30 PM IST).

Next up, they host Chennai Super Kings in a big home clash.

After that, RCB will face Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in their early away games.

Also Read: Virat Kohli leads elite list of 5 players with 100+ catches in IPL history

RCB home ground details

This season, RCB will play two matches in Raipur as part of their away-from-Bengaluru venues. They have five home games scheduled at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The BCCI has made it clear that all matches in Bengaluru will depend on the decision of the Karnataka government’s expert panel (likely due to any local factors).

RCB squad and auction updates

Before the auction, RCB retained 17 players and had 16.40 crore rupees left in their purse. They released England all-rounder Liam Livingstone.

Here’s the RCB full squad for IPL 2026:

Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Venkatesh Iyer, Satwik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Vihan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Jordan Cox, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Yash Dayal.

Key challenge in the opener for RCB

RCB’s first game is against a strong SRH side packed with aggressive batters like Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head at the top. Stopping those explosive openers won’t be easy.

Bengaluru will once again lean heavily on Virat Kohli for big runs. Captain Rajat Patidar will hope the team shows the same fighting spirit that won them the title last year.

SRH, led by Pat Cummins, last won the IPL in 2016 and will come hard in the opener.